Strategies to support LGBT youth of color discussed at NEA conference
June 29, 2009
Educators from around the country discussed strategies to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth of color Sunday at the National Education Association’s annual meetings in San Diego. The workshop, “LGBT Youth of Color: Changing Negative Images in the Classroom and through the Media,” was lead by Dan Guerrero, television and theater producer and director, and Ché Ruddell-Tabisola, HRC special projects manager. Name calling, teasing and bullying are problems most LGBT students encounter at school. Nearly nine in 10 (86 percent) LGBT students had been verbally harassed and 44 percent physically harassed during the school year, according to the 2007 National School Climate Survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the Gay and Lesbian Straight Education Network. More than half of African-American, Latino/a, and Asian Pacific Islander LGBT students were also harassed because of their race or ethnicity, the study found. Almost half of all transgender students reported missing at least one day of school in the past month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable. Ché and Dan suggested strategies such as inviting educational theatre troops to schools and facilitating the creation of gay-straight alliances to begin combating discrimination. They also cited actions educators could take in the classroom and within lesson plans found in HRC’s “An Introduction to Welcoming Schools” guide.
